When planning, designing and building our new head office in Mold, great importance was placed on ensuring that our core environmental values were fully embedded in all aspects.
The building has a glue-laminated timber (glulam) frame and is timber clad. The 850m2 office will accommodate 90 people and has been assessed under the BRE Environmental Assessment Method † (BREEAM) and is expected to achieve 'Excellent' status.
All the timber used in construction and for furniture is Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified and sourced from local suppliers. Thermal excellence has been achieved by high levels of insulation in the foundations, walls and roof. This is supported by a very high degree of air tightness of the building which prevents stops cold draughts coming in and heat escaping. The double glazing uses a special spacer bar to improve insulation and reduce heat loss.
The building has a 'green' roof. This features a covering of sedum plants. The roof and the planting benefit the environment by slowing the impact of rain water and by improving the insulation properties of the building. The internal microclimate benefits from a valuable fuel-free element of cooling in summer and warming in winter.
The low-impact environmental build also made maximum use of local suppliers and use of natural resources to minimise power consumption. These include sun pipes for natural lighting, natural ventilation and a sustainable drainage system. Electrical lighting is operated by movement sensors.
Eighty per cent of the fabric of the building is made from A-rated environmental impact standard materials. The building is surrounded by landscaping of locally sourced trees and wild flowers, improving the surrounding habitat's biodiversity. An application for a wind turbine is currently underway, to enable self-sufficiency and promote the use locally of renewable energy.
†BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings.
It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building's environmental performance.
